Chapter 3: Visiting the Sick (Part 1)

Translator: Tygris
English proofreader: 247Reader

Although Seventh niangzi had not yet been taken to Eldest Madam’s to be raised, the news of her impending move had spread throughout the entire Yang Mansion in less than a day.

“Eldest Madam is kind-hearted. She is worried that once Seventh niangzi loses her mother, she will be without anyone to teach and guide her, and so…” Ninth yiniang spoke with profound meaning. ^[1]意味深长 (yì wèi shēn cháng) is used to describe something that is laden with deep/multiple/subtle meanings or thought-provoking. “Seventh niangzi has indeed reached an age where she ought to understand things.”

Speaking of which, Seventh niangzi had just turned six, and was born on the same day as Ninth ge’er and Eighth niangzi of the Second Branch. ^[2]二房 (èr fáng) could mean either the second branch of a large extended family, i.e., the family of the second son, or it could mean the second, officially recognized wife who would rank below the official/first wife. Basically, the second wife is still a concubine. 二房 here is used in the context of the second branch, aka the family of Second Master Yang. Ninth ge’er was still but a child, and Eighth niangzi had never even held a needle or thread, whereas Seventh niangzi’s fingers already had calluses from embroidering.

Fourth yiniang averted her eyes, gave a slight smile, and did not respond to Ninth yiniang’s words.

This woman was very delicate and graceful, seemingly no more than twenty-seven or twenty-eight. She wore a lotus-green front-fastening ^[3]对襟 (duì jīn) describes a kind of Chinese-style jacket with buttons down the front. long jacket ^[4]袄 (ǎo) refers to a lined jacket worn in ancient China, often made of silk, cotton, and/or fur and comes in three types: a two-layered jacket with lining, a jacket stuffed/padded with cotton or other insulation, and a jacket made of leather/various animal hides. There are also long 袄 and short 袄, with the former having the hem fall around the knees and the latter with the hem around the waist/hips. with subtle hibiscus patterns. From head to toe, she wore only a pair of earrings and a single silver phoenix hairpin. Her outfit made her aura seem all the more refined and striking. Those who did not know would even say that she had the temperament of a household-managing matriarch! But fate had been cruel to her, and she ended up as the Fourth yiniang of the Yang Mansion.

Ninth yiniang maintained her smiling expression. Seventh niangzi stood within Ninth yiniang’s line of sight, glancing at Ninth yiniang, then at Fourth yiniang, not saying a single word.

The atmosphere grew cold until Third niangzi walked with a smile on her face.

In her hands was a ‘beauty shrugging shoulders’ vase ^[5]So this is just a descriptor of a vase, where the curve of the vase neck to body is compared with that of a beauty’s neck to shoulder/body. This article gives a great overview, but it is in Chinese — you can try Google Translate’ing the page if you are interested in learning more. Shrugging shoulders would be approximately the same as the round shoulder/full shoulder photos shown in that article. containing a single branch of newly opened plum blossoms. These sparsely flowering blossoms instantly added a touch of fragrance to a room which had previously been filled with only the smell of medicine.

Third niangzi smiled before she spoke. “Greetings to Ninth yiniang. It has been a long time since I have come to see Ninth yiniang.” Her youthful, round ^[6]The raws repeated the word 圆 (yuán), aka round, twice, which is implying affection/cuteness. Kinda saying that her face is round in a cute and adorable way. face was bursting ^[7]争先恐后 (zhēng xiān kǒng hòu) literally means ‘striving to be the first as though one fears to be the last’. So, uh, her joy is rushing onto her face? with joy. “Seventh Younger Sister, look at this branch of plum blossoms your Third Elder Sister picked.”

Seventh niangzi took a few steps and arrived in front of Third niangzi to carefully examine that branch of plum blossoms.

Though Third niangzi had spoken courteously, her steps had stopped several zhang ^[8]丈 (zhàng) is a unit of measurement of approximately 3.3 meters. away, ^[9]This is an exaggeration emphasizing how much she does not want to be here—she is not literally several 3.3 meters worth of distance away. and she refused to come any closer.

Likely, she was fearful of catching the illness… After all, she was indeed still a bit young and had not yet learned all of Fourth yiniang’s twists and turns. ^[10]弯弯绕绕 (wān wān rào rào), literally meaning twists and turns, is often used to describe physical, tangible objects, like rivers. Here, it is used to describe Fourth yiniang’s abilities, and so is saying that she is good at being roundabout/evasive/keeping her thoughts to herself/not getting to the point/can navigate social situations/etc.

Seventh niangzi raised her eyes and smiled guilelessly. ^[11]天真无邪 (tiān zhēn wú xié) means to be naive, pure, and innocent, without the slightest hint of evil, deceit, or corruption. “Third Elder Sister, these are so fragrant.”

“Though plum blossoms are three shades less white than snow, the snow is one part less fragrant than the plum [blossoms].” ^[12]This is a reference to “Snow and Plum”, a poem by Lu Meipo of the Song Dynasty. Here is a English translation from a website that will not bombard you with random ads, just a log-in prompt that you can close. Third niangzi, pleased, turned and placed the vase on top of a small cabinet, and tilted her head to admire it for a moment. “En, ‘tis quite beautiful. Ninth yiniang’s room was indeed missing such a branch white plum blossoms! Now, is there not finally a sense of winter?” ^[13]TL Note: White in China is associated with mourning and death, so this is a color that should not appear near those who are ill because it symbolizes death. (Hospitals are a separate case.) Some people—especially elders, in my experience—are also anti-wearing the color white in hair because traditionally, you would only do so at funerals.

This ‘beauty shrugging shoulders’ vase that Third niangzi had brought looked like a Zheng kiln ^[14]This is a reference to a kiln of ancient Zhengzhou of the Shang Dynasty. More often, at least in the English articles I found, this is referred to as Chai kiln. This article briefly discusses Chai kiln at the end of the section on Ru kiln. The TLDR from various sources is that Zhengzhou kiln, aka the Imperial kiln and Chai kiln was established during the Later Zhou Dynasty. The porcelain it produced was the best of the best, but after the Five Dynasties, the kiln and porcelain all mysteriously disappeared. piece, finished with a ‘sky after the rain’ glaze… ^[15]This is a poetic name for a beautiful finishing glaze on pottery meant to resemble the blue sky after the rain. Here is an article in Chinese with pictures of Ru pottery with this type of glaze. Here is also a teapot Yunnan Sourcing is selling made in the Ru kiln style. This vase, outside, could easily be sold for more than forty taels of silver. Not to mention that the eleventh month had barely begun—how could one easily find such nicely blooming white plum blossoms?

Ultimately, Fourth yiniang was somewhat discontented. Though she did not say anything herself, she allowed her daughter to show off her wealth.

Ninth yiniang glanced around the room. Seeing the yellowed walls, rusted locks, and mold-damaged cabinets, she began coughing again. Seventh niangzi hurriedly returned to Ninth yiniang’s bedside to pat her back.

An unnatural expression flitted across Fourth yiniang’s face.

“Seventh niangzi is filial,” she praised.

Seventh niangzi lowered her eyes. ^[16]低眉顺眼 (dī méi shùn yǎn) literally translates to having ‘drooping brows and obedient eyes’ and describes submissive/docile and deferential/humble behavior. “Fourth yiniang has overpraised.” ^[17]过奖了 (guò jiǎng le) is a polite and modest way to respond to praise. Literally, it is saying that the other person has overpraised, but is used to express humility and modesty.

“It is just that,” Fourth yiniang’s words turned, “though Ninth yiniang is your biological mother, she is after all merely a lowly servant. Seventh niangzi must remember the difference between the noble and the lowly.” ^[18]尊卑有别 (zūn bēi yǒu bié) means that there is a difference between the noble and the lowly. The high-rank vs. low-rank are based on social roles/social power.

She looked at Seventh niangzi with a smile. Ninth yiniang’s coughing grew even worse.

Fourth yiniang was this type of person—no matter what she did, it was shrouded in cloud and mist, ^[19]云山雾罩 (yún shān wù zhào) describes a landscape of mountains high up in the clouds, covered by mist and fog. It refers to something vague or mysterious. making it impossible to see her true intentions. Seventh niangzi did not understand why [Fourth yiniang] suddenly wanted to raise her under [Fourth yiniang’s] name, or why she chose to come flaunt her wealth and then spoke such ambiguous ^[20]暧昧不明 (ài mèi bù míng) describes something that is ambiguous and unclear, containing hidden meanings/emotions. words.

She lowered her eyes and was on the verge of speaking.

Ninth yiniang suddenly grasped her hand.

Seventh niangzi immediately changed her words.

“Yiniang, I will go get you a cup of water.” She apologetically nodded towards Fourth yiniang, and rushed out the door. Staring at the pea-green coarse porcelain teacup, she could not help but sigh.

Seventh niangzi was not one who desired wealth and glory, and she also did not really care for wearing those cold, lifeless items. ^[21]Cold and lifeless are references to money, such as silver and gold. So cold and lifeless items are items bought with money, such as valuable jewelry, clothing, accessories, etc. But in the Eldest Madam’s courtyard, even a single blade of grass had a distinguished background, yet Ninth yiniang could only use coarse porcelain teacups, which even when broken accounted for a loss of only one or two wen. ^[22]文 (wén) was the most basic unit of money, just one copper coin. The same small amount a cent would be to many modern countries. See History of Chinese currency – Wikipedia for more information.

In the end, was it not simply that Ninth yiniang gave birth to Ninth ge’er, and Ninth ge’er had been taken over by Eldest Madam to be raised as her own biological son?

Eldest Madam was slightly too narrow-minded. When Ninth ge’er grew up, if he learned that Ninth yiniang had died under such miserable conditions, it would be hard to say that he would harbor no resentment in his heart.

Seventh niangzi suddenly felt a chill spread throughout her body—she did not understand what the Eldest Madam’s intentions were in taking her in.

She had originally thought that, since she was Ninth ge’er’s twin elder sister, even without looking at the monk’s face, one had to look at the Buddha’s face. ^[23]不看僧面看佛面 (bù kàn sēng miàn kàn fó miàn) literally translates to something along the lines of ‘not looking at the monk’s face, look at the Buddha’s face’, and basically says that even if one does not care for someone directly involved, one still needs to consider the feelings/thoughts/emotions/etc. of someone else related and generally more respected. Based on both emotion and reason, Eldest Madam should be taking her in and raising her. After all, she and Ninth ge’er had an indelible blood connection, and they were born with such similar appearances… if she were to be randomly given to a yuiniang to be raised, then when Ninth ge’er was grown, it would be hard to avoid awkwardness. Eldest Madam ought to raise her to be a presentable, well-mannered, and obedient proper young lady, and in the future, when she married into her husband’s family, she would not be bringing shame to the Yang clan.

But, Eldest Madam might simply have lacked the inclination to invest effort in cultivating a concubine-born daughter. Moreover, having been raised under Ninth yiniang until the age of six, no matter how close she might become to Eldest Madam, in her heart, her biological mother would always come first.

Perhaps, Eldest Madam had never wanted her from the start, and so had not brought her to the main courtyard [alongside Ninth ge’er].

Now, [Eldest Madam] must only want her to go over so that it would be more convenient to control her.

But, if that were the case, Eldest Madam could have easily pushed the boat alongside the tide ^[24]顺水推舟 (shùn shuǐ tuī zhōu) literally means “to push the boat along with the tide” and means to take advantage of pre-existing circumstances. Basically, going along with the flow. and sent her to Fourth yiniang. Over the following years, [Eldest Madam] could come up with a scheme or just wait for her to make a mistake, and then simply claim that Fourth yiniang had failed to educate her well. After all, she was Ninth ge’er’s elder twin sister, which carried a measure of dignity. At that point, it would be natural for Eldest Master to be displeased…

But Wang mama had just learned that Fourth yiniang came to visit before her hurried visit. And Ninth yiniang had only barely brought up Fourth yiniang wanting to raise her when [Wang mama] immediately brought her into the main courtyard. Most likely, Eldest Madam still had some use for her.

Otherwise, even if there were any other intentions, they remained unclear.

Seventh niangzi smiled bitterly at the teapot and poured a shallow cup of tea before returning to the room. Fourth yiniang and Ninth yiniang were talking.

“…In the end, the person is one you carried to term in your womb. Now that you have become like this and not a single word has come from that side…”

Ninth yiniang countered the strike, ^[25]见招拆招 (jiàn zhāo chāi zhāo) means to counter each strike as it comes. “Fourth yiniang had just said that there is a difference between the noble and the lowly.” ^[26]尊卑有别 (zūn bēi yǒu bié) means that there is a difference between the noble and the lowly. The high-rank vs. low-rank are based on social roles/social power.

“But the birth mother, in the end, is still the birth mother.” Fourth yiniang’s words always had multiple meanings. She glanced at Third niangzi’s joyful expression, and said, “You have not seen him since his birth, right? Now, he has already grown so tall…”

“Yiniang, have some tea.” Seventh niangzi calmly brought in the cup of tea. Ninth yiniang sat up straight and took over the teacup, taking intermittent sips.

“Sigh, his appearance is exactly that of Seventh niangzi!” Fourth yiniang slapped her thigh, ^[27]拍了拍大腿 (pāi le pāi dàtuǐ), patting/slapping the thigh, here is used for emphasis. When not used literally, it can also be used to indicate sudden realization or frustration. speaking as if she had only met this pair of twin elder sister and younger brother today.

Seventh niangzi could not help but smile.

“Seventh Younger Sister, what are you smiling at?” Third niangzi asked innocently. “Could it be that you saw these white plum blossoms and your mood has lifted? I just knew that you usually would not be able to see this type of rare item.”

This year, Master Yang had just been assigned to continue in his position as Governor ^[28]总督 (zǒngdū) in ancient China was a high-ranking provincial official often holding both civil and military authority, and they are considered one of the powerful figures under the Emperor. of Jiangnan. Under his control, he had the Weaving Bureau and the Salt and Iron Commission, both of which were cornucopias of wealth. Second Master Yang held an official position in the capital as a noble Hanlin scholar, ^[29]翰林学士 (hàn lín xué shì) referred to a student of  翰林院 (hàn lín yuàn) or the Hanlin Academy. This was a prestigious institution established during the Tang Dynasty. Historically, in order to become a powerful, influential figure next to the Emperor, one must come through the Hanlin Academy. This is generally the case, regardless of one’s family background. and had a bright future. The two Yang Mansions together comprised an entire street. This street was known as the Two Yang Street. The Yang clan was one of the most famous and wealthy families in Jiangnan. How could it be that Seventh niangzi had not seen even a branch of white plum blossoms?

Moreover, every winter, Master Yang would take his wife and concubines to Xiangxuehai ^[30]香雪海 (xiāng xuě hǎi), literally a term describing a fragrant sea of white, i.e. a metaphor for a vast expanse of blooming white plum blossoms, refers to a scenic area in Guangfu Town, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. Baidu link has pictures. to see the plum blossoms, occasionally even staying up to half a month. The white plum blossoms of Xiangxuehai were the most well-known.

These words from Third niangzi were equivalent to pointing at her nose ^[31]指名道姓 (zhǐ míng dào xìng) means to explicitly point out someone’s name and call out someone’s surname. Generally used in a negative context.  and slapping her in the face, ^[32]当面打脸 (dāng miàn dǎ liǎn) means to slap someone in the face in person. Figuratively it stands for publicly humiliating someone. saying that Seventh niangzi was not favored.

Seventh niangzi raised her eyebrows.

“Third Elder Sister is too polite… I usually spend all my efforts on serving yiniang, and indeed could not focus on such leisure items. This ‘beauty shrugging shoulders’ vase is likely also a valuable item, is it not?”

Third niangzi’s expression showed a trace of pride. She was still young and had not yet learned restraint.

“It sells for over a hundred taels outside.”

“Sigh, such valuable items are all recorded in the accounts.” Ninth yiniang suddenly re-entered the conversation. “Third niangzi is still young and ignorant and has just brought it here casually. If it falls and breaks one day, who would swallow this loss? …Fourth yiniang did not even try to stop her?”

Fourth yiniang’s face was full of happiness, smiling lovingly and indulgently at her daughter.

“How could she listen to my words? She thinks wholeheartedly of her Seventh Younger Sister and simply grabbed a vase [for the plum blossoms] and came over.”

Ninth yiniang’s meaning was very clear. We are both servants. Seventh niangzi is concubine-born, and so is your daughter. The valuable items in your courtyard are all recorded and limited—stop puffing up a swollen face to appear fat. ^[33]肿脸充胖子 (zhǒng liǎn chōng pàng zi) figuratively means to be pretending to be what you are not. Generally, pretending to be more capable or wealthy or important, often by silently taking a loss.

Fourth yiniang’s words were even more straightforward: this vase is simply a common product. In our courtyard, no one would pay it any extra attention.

Seventh niangzi gave Third niangzi a light, understated ^[34]轻描淡写 (qīng miáo dàn xiě) literally means to ‘trace lightly with faint strokes’. Figuratively, it means to downplay or gloss over something. curtsy. ^[35]福身 (fú shēn) is a curtsy performed by placing both hands together in front of the body, then bending the knees and body slightly. Often seen in Chinese dramas! “Then, thanking Third Elder Sister for her thoughtfulness.”

Third niangzi was not inclined to respond. Fourth yiniang shot her a glare, and she once again made a sweet smile bloom on her face. “Seventh Younger Sister, do not be so polite to your Third Elder Sister. You have been in the southern side-courtyard for a long time without stepping out the door. As an elder sister, it is natural for me to take care of you.”

No matter how carefully she had been cultivated, Seventh niangzi could not help but feel quietly displeased.

Though Third niangzi seemed joyful and ebullient on the surface, in actuality….

Everyone exchanged a few more words. In the end, Fourth yiniang stood up and bid her farewells.

In the end, she never even clarified why she had come.

Seventh niangzi was extremely curious.

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